Jaw-dropping amount of money it costs to go to space as celebs urge everyone to go
Showing us exactly how the other half live, Katy Perry and Blue Origin's all-female crew are telling us mere civilians that we should embrace the chance to go to space if we can afford it.
That's just the problem though, we can't all be chart-topping divas with a reported net worth of $350 million.
While we're not quite in the realms where we can just pop into space for a little jaunt around the stars, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is making a name for itself with its celebrity flights.
An all-female crew including Perry, Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, journalist Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and businesswoman Kerianne Flynn flew on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.
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They successfully blasted off from its West Texas just after 08:30 local time and returned without a hitch.
The crew made the quick jump to space, marking the first all-female flight since Valentina Tereshkova's solo mission on Vostok 6 in 1963.
Perry was already mocked for the fact she was only in space for a mere 11 minutes, but according to the "Firework" singer, everyone needs to get up there.
Sky science correspondent Thomas Moore reiterated that while Blue Origin hasn't revealed the full cost of a ticket, a trip on the New Shepard rocket required a $150,000 deposit.
We know going to space isn't cheap, but still.
Discussing the out of this world pricing, Moore said: "Some people watching this can't even afford to buy a box of eggs. Space tourism is only for the super rich at the moment."
Blue Origin has already come under fire for its all-female mission, as The Newsroom's Olivia Munn branded it a 'gluttonous' waste of money at a time people are struggling to afford to live.
Moore continued: "Those who are supporters of this kind of venture would say that it accelerates innovation and that spreads through the whole of the space industry.
"But there are others who are very uncomfortable about the inequality of space travel and also, of course, about its environmental impact."
Perry says she's dreamed of going to space (remember when she dressed as an astronaut for the 2017 MTV Vide Awards?) for a long time, also telling the Associated Press how she hopes it'll inspire other young women to dream big: "I am talking to myself every day and going, ‘You’re brave, you’re bold, you are doing this for the next generation to inspire so many different people but especially young girls to go, 'I’ll go to space in the future. No limitations'."
Blue Origin has been pushing this so-called celebrity flights, with Star Trek's William Shatner being the oldest person to fly in space when he went there at the age of 90 in 2021.
In 2023, Observer claimed that what you pay for a Blue Origin flight depends who you are. Although unsubstantiated, it's reported that people have paid everything from zero for $30 million to secure a seat.
The site reminds us how Blue Origin auction a seat on its maiden flight for an eye-watering $28 million, but when the winner couldn't go, it went to the next highest bigger nearly as much. One passenger working for the nonprofit Foundation for the Future apparently only paid $1 million, while the likes of Shatner have flown as Blue Origin’s 'honorable guests'.
Still, with most of the world struggling to even afford the deposit, it's a dream that will sadly remain out of many people's grasp. If only we had Katy Perry's bank balance.